The Tomb Raider (lara) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-05 16:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, anna marie (rogue), lara croft |
Who: Lara and Rogue
What: Hiking.
When: Last weekend
Where: A trail
Status: complete
Rating: Pg-13 for bears
Lara headed out to the trail. She had on her best hiking boots, green cargo pants and one of her favorite tank tops, with a shirt over it to protect her shoulders from her backback. She waited for Rogue and sipped at some water, tapping her foot with constrained energy.
Rogue had dug out her boots, a pair of comfortable cargo pants and a tank top. She’d thrown a short sleeved plaid shirt on over top, a small backpack with a camelback in it for water. And snacks were in there too. She had tied her red and white locks into a pony tail and it swayed as she headed to meet Lara. “”ello!” she called out.
“Hello!” Lara waved excitedly, hopping off a little fence and walked over. “Have a nice drive? It’s really pleasant today.” She grinned.
“Oh yeah, it’s a beautiful day for a hike. And a beautiful spot, too.” she said with a grin as she adjusted her pack. “Ready?” she asked, curiously, a smile on her lips. She could go from party-girl to country-girl in five seconds flat, and today was definitely a country day.
“I’ve been looking forward to it,” Lara replied, fixing a strap and then nodding with her head. “We have a couple routes to choose from. How about an intermediate hike? Be a bit more out of the way, but more relaxing than an advanced trail.”
“Intermediate it is!” she grinned “sounds like a plan ta me, ah’ve been excited. Ah’ve not been hikin for some time.” she pushed her ponytail out of her way and looked around before nodding again. “Ah’m ready when you are.”
“Where are you from, exactly?” Lara asked, as she started down the trail. She was curious - accents and dialects were a little but like likeing archaeological evidence of a society .
“Louisiana, jes outside New Orleans” she said it with that southern drawl, too, making it more like nawlins. She kept pace with her, smiling as she enjoyed the day out. Without having to thieve. It was a rare day and she was willing to take advantage of it.
Lara grinned. That was cute, and she nodded her head. “Never been down there but I hear it’s got amazing culture!”
“Don’t ferget the amazin’ food” she smiled a bit. “Ah’m from the country, jes outside the city, ah still love it though. Ah kinda miss the bayous.” she frowned a bit at the thought.
“I’ve heard the food is good too. I think that’s part of the culture.” Lara glanced over at Rogue. “It’s more than just a swamp, isn’t it?”
“Food is culture but culture isn’t always food. Ah separate em because for me, they’re two things.” she shrugged a bit. “Oh oui, they’re amazing things. dey got mangroves, and crawfish and more, ah love them.” she smiled.
“That makes sense. What’s your favorite thing? Food, I mean?” Lara turned her attention to their surroundings as they walked, able to listen while still looking around at other things.
Rogue moved lightly on her feet, Enjoying the air, the sun and the time. It was a lovely day for a hike and good company made it better. “O, ah don’t even… Jambalaya, Boudin… probably be mah favorites. the smell of boudin on the grill? sizzling? mm”
“God, that sounds much more exciting than British food,” Lara replied. She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not that big a fan of fish and chips. It’s okay I suppose. What I really like are more regional dishes. The stuff that comes in from all over the world, particularly the east.”
She laughed softly. “Ah can make a mean boudin, there are a few other’s ah’m good at but that’s the best one.” she pushed her ponytail again and smiled. “Got a favorite?”
“I’m a big fan of Pho. Simple, really, but kind of exciting depending on where you get it from. I’ve been on the look out for a good Vietnamese place around here.” She looked away from the wilderness and back to the red head again.
She nodded lightly. “Ain’t never had that.” she admitted as she picked her way through the trail, feet light and sure as she meandered up it. She was relaxed and enjoying the day. “Ah’ll have to try it some day.”
“It’s pretty good. Basically noodles, but that’s a bit like saying spaghetti is basically pasta.” She grinned at her new friend.
Something nearby rustled...
Rogue laughed softly. "Oui or that boudin is jes sausage.close but not quite." Her head tilted a bit then she smiled. "Ah'm glad ah came. It's beautiful so far"
“It’s much more fun when you’re not alone,” Lara admitted. “Usually I’m with my best mate, or my sort of father figure. I really miss them.”
That rustling turned into a rumbling and the hackles on her neck rose.
Rogue stopped at the rumbling. She’d survived her time in the backwoods and bayous by listening to her gut. Alligators, Coydogs, Coyotes and Cougars galore .. so she looked over at Lara, her finger raising to her lips. “You ‘ear dat?” she asked softly, not sure what it was but it sounded too big to be a coon in the woods.
“Yes, I hear that,” the Brit said, straining her ears and looking around. Something ambled out from behind a bush. It was fairly small, with big eyes and big ears and waddling like it still had trouble walking. It was a young bear!
What had Roth told her about bears again?
Rogue went dead still. And ran through her head what she knew about bears (which, admittedly, was far less than say, cougars) and looked at Lara. “Oh. Oh!” she said softly, and because she was still of her right mind she slowly slipped her phone out of her pocket. If you could resist a photo of the adorableness you were on something. She carefully made sure the sound was off, and snapped a couple of adorable photos before it moved again.
The baby bear was so freaking adorable she didn’t even stop to think, where’s it mom? She looked between it and Lara. “I don’t remember what to do…” she said quietly.
Lara looked around. “I suppose we need to make sure we don’t end up between it and it’s mum….And no sudden movements or sounds. I think it’s a black bear, so if we don’t piss off mum, we’ll be okay.”
She tucked her phone away carefully and took a breath. “Alright then. Ah suppose we need ta ever so quietly put distance between us then?” she watched the baby wide eyed, a bit worried that mum was now going to come storming out at them. Cause that? That would be Rogue’s luck. “Nice and slow right?”
Lara nodded, taking Rogue’s hand and starting to pull her away from the bear. A twig snapped behind her and she straightened, turning around. “Shit.”
Once again, her luck. She squeezed Lara’s hand in an ‘oh. shit’ moment. “Merde.” she said softly. She looked around them for a route to freedom. “Bother. Now what?” softly.
“Don’t run..step away slowly…” Lara spoke with her voice but heard Roth’s gruff accent in her head. “Don’t give her reason to think her bab is in danger.”
Rogue knew better than to run. Running was just a big ole red flag that screamed ‘come eat me!’ no, she carefully looked for the best path out of the way and started to inch away.
“I wish I had one of Roth’s pistols right now. It would knock me on my arse but scare it away.” She kept her voice low and quite. One of her hands was stretched out, phone in it. She’d wanted a picture too, but then there’d been mum. She swallowed, and snapped a few pictures as the big black bear ambled past them towards her cub.
Rogue stood stock still as the bear ambled past, breath held, she didn’t want to move lest she startle the bear into attacking. “I think I agree with you on that one.” she said quietly, staring and unable to really move.
The bear looked at them and huffed, then disappeared into the brush with it’s cub. It was several minutes before Lara dared to move, and then she felt a little dizzy. “Good god.”
Rogue sat down on a rock after a few minutes to let her legs relax. “Ah ain’t gonna lie none, that? Was nerve wracking!” she laughed softly “Ah’ve dealt with cougars and gators but bears? terrify me, dey can be so… protective.” she said softly..
Lara thought that they could have been in serious trouble if they’d been any closer to that cub! She sank down onto another rock. She wasn’t worried her legs would give out on her, but she needed to relax a bit, too. “I think the one that really terrifies me are wolves.”
If she was afraid of wolves, her dreams were going to be a bitch.
“Ah love wolves, they’re so beautiful, but ah can understand the fear. Bears just scare me because they’re so big.” she brushed hair out of her eyes then pulled her phone out. She thumbed through the photos. “But we got some decent photos for it.” she said with a soft laugh.
Lara looked down at her phone. She wasn’t even sure how she’d managed to snap those pictures. She decided to send one to Sam, just to get a rise out of her friend. “That we did.”
She grinned and tucked her phone away. She really had no one to send a photo of a bear to. “Ready to continue on then? Hopefully less bears.” she teased a bit.
“If you want to soldier on, who am I to deny you?” The british girl laughed and pushed herself to her feet. “When the adrenaline wears off we’ll regret this.”
“And are we afraid of a few bears?” she grinned as she pulled herself to her feet, grinning a bit as she offered a hand to Lara. “Probably but time ta live, yeah?”
She reached out and took Rogue’s hand. “Living is a pretty good thing.” Roth had always told her she was a survivor. She never thought much of it - she liked the outdoors and she excelled at school and just about anything that wasn’t social.